Leading by Example Thoroughbred Farms R in California S T by RUDI GROOTHEDDE O R Besides Being One of the Leading Stallion Stations in Cisco,” Continued Tom
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C O Rancho San Miguel: V E Leading By Example Thoroughbred Farms R In California S T by RUDI GROOTHEDDE O R Besides being one of the leading stallion stations in cisco,” continued Tom. “From a business point of view, that’s a Y both California and the nation, Tom and Nancy Clark’s big positive for us as we are able to service both markets. Rancho San Miguel also provides Thoroughbred breeders He added, “We’re also not that far from the Pacific and owners with the best possible care for their horses on Ocean, so we get nice cool nights from its evening breezes. this 250-acre facility that the New York-based couple Even during the summer, when it can get up to 100 degrees purchased in April of 2000. during the day, it cools downs into the 60s here for the horses, “The climate, the water and the strategic position which we think is very valuable. All of this makes for a attracted me when I originally looked at purchasing the natural environment that is healthy for the horses.” farm,” said Tom. “We then invested in new pastures, barns, Included among Rancho San Miguel’s most recent suc- equipment and housing, and also now have some exciting cesses have been the 2010 homebred stakes winner Money stallions who, most importantly, have been heavily sup- Lover, grade I winner and $2,390,556-earner Hystericalady, ported by their owners. Having nine top-class studs has whom they co-owned, and the dual grade I-winning been the biggest change here in the last couple of years. It’s millionaire To Honor and Serve who they bred in partner- a definite improvement.” ship and sold for $250,000 as a weanling. Tom has been around Thoroughbreds all his life after These achievements, combined with being filled to being raised on a farm, while Nancy earned a degree in Ani- capacity with more than 350 horses during the height of mal Science from the University of California at Davis each breeding season and having more than 120 youngsters before managing what is now Victory Rose Thoroughbreds. foal at the farm in 2012, position Rancho San Miguel as “We are committed to putting our money into the farm, one of the Golden State’s premier Thoroughbred facilities. into the horses, into the people; that’s the bottom line,” added A Fine Nine Tom, who tries to come out from the East Coast to visit Ran- For the studs at Rancho San Miguel, there is a large cho San Miguel at least once a month. breeding shed located in the center of a Nestled in the coastal foothills north- nine-stall stallion barn, with doors on west of Paso Robles, this San Miguel all of its sides, as well as an adjacent set location is ideally situated equidistant of six roomy paddocks. The breeding from the major racing centers in Southern area also features padded palpation and Northern California. “It helps us attract clients from Los Angeles to San Fran- Continued on next page ©Amanda Poore Tom and Nancy Clark Ron Mesaros © www.ctba.com CALIFORNIA THOROUGHBRED • FEBRUARY 2013 21 C O V E R Thoroughbred Farms S In California Cont’d. T chutes for the mares and foal boxes, plus the complex houses O the farm’s offices. R Comic Strip, Marino Marini, McCann’s Mojave, Y Onebadshark, Sierra Sunset, Slew’s Tiznow, Southern Image, Storm Wolf and The Pamplemousse were also all based at Rancho San Miguel for the 2012 breeding season, when they covered close to 220 mares between them. “When looking at standing a stallion, we look at conforma- tion, race record and pedigree, as well as owner support,” Tom said. “We usually can’t tick off all those boxes here in California, but by bringing a good number of mares to each of our stallions Comic Strip they can have a relatively good chance to succeed. Also core to our success is that we have had very high fertility rates because of the performance of the stallions and the knowledgable and professional staff who oversee the breeding.” Comic Strip Relocated to Rancho San Miguel for the 2007 breeding season, this 18-year-old son of Red Ransom (Roberto) has remained under the farm’s banner even though he has been standing at Gray’s Farm in Cottonwood since 2011, as he is the property of the farm and Dr. William T. Gray, DVM. Retired to stud in Kentucky in 2000, following a four-year-old campaign that included two graded stakes wins routing on the turf, Comic Strip originally moved to California for his third season at stud in 2002. Also a grade III winner at 1 1/16 miles on the dirt as a Marino Marini sophomore, he banked $965,474 from a 23-10-6-3 record before becoming the sire of the earners of more than $7.5 million. Among his 22 stakes performers are champion Bamboleo, multiple stakes winners Tornado Betty and Table Mesa, graded stakes-placed Press Camp and Iced Out, and Weewinnin who won last year’s inaugural running of the $200,000 King Glorious Stakes for two-year-olds at Betfair Hollywood Park. Comic Strip’s dam was Now That’s Funny, a winning daughter of Saratoga Six who has produced three other stakes winners, including the group III-winning sire Lucayan Prince and Silver Comic, a grade II winner and the dam of 2011 graded stakes winner Silver Reunion. “He’s a tall, rangy type of horse with good conformation,” McCann’s Mojave said Clay of the 16.2-hand dark bay who has 70 percent win- ners from starters and average earnings per runner of more As a racehorse, he was a group I-placed stakes winner in than $35,000. He stands at a fee of $2,500 Live Foal this year. Ireland as a two-year-old before his six U.S. starts in the Marino Marini Rancho San Miguel silks yielded an allowance win and Named after an Italian sculptor of the 20th Century whose runner-up finish in Santa Anita Park’s grade I Malibu major subject was horses, this 2000 son of leading sire of sires Stakes at three and a trio of graded stakes placings at four in Storm Cat (Storm Bird) boasts 15 stakes runners amongst his California and Kentucky. His overall record stands at 16-3-4-4 five crops of racing age. Marino Marini’s fillies are led by last with $294,384 in earnings. year’s $200,000 Fleet Treat Stakes and 2011 California Cup Out of Waquoit’s grade I-winning millionaire Halo Juvenile Fillies Stakes winner Starlight Magic, while his America, also the dam of grade III winner Quick Temper, male offspring include dual 2012 black-type winner Shuda- Marino Marini boasts more than $5.5 million in progeny cudawudya and four-time stakes winner Hot Fusion. earnings, 72 percent winners from starters and average 22 CALIFORNIA THOROUGHBRED • FEBRUARY 2013 www.ctba.com C O V E first crop last year, including the $20,280-earner Go Mojave R Go whose only 2012 start was a victory in a maiden special weight race at Golden Gate Fields and Real Mojave Green, a S winner of four races in Mexico. With $86,943 in progeny T earnings, McCann’s Mojave ranked second among those sires O who retired to stud in California for the 2009 breeding season. R A debut winner at two in 2002, and a stakes winner each Y year from the ages of four to eight, he earned $1,513,565 from 12 victories and four runner-up finishes. After being voted the California Champion Older Male of 2004, when he won the Potrero Grande Breeders’ Cup Handicap (grade II) going at 6 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita, McCann’s Mojave won grade III races worth $150,000 each at Golden Gate in both 2007 and 2008; the All American Stakes in a Onebadshark new track record time of 1:50 flat for 1 1/8 miles and then the Berkeley Stakes in the penultimate start of his 35-race career. By dual champion Memo (Chi), a son of Mocito Guapo (Arg), out of Nordic Prince’s grade III-placed, 16-time winner Joni U. Bar, his five-year-old season included a win in the $250,000 California Cup Classic Handicap during Santa Anita’s Oak Tree Racing Association meet and a second place finish in the Triple Bend Invitational Handicap (grade I) at Hollywood Park. At seven, a victory in the $1,000,000 Sunshine Millions Classic at Gulfstream Park in Florida was another high- light for McCann’s Mojave, a 16.2-hand bay owned by a syndicate led by Santa Anita’s Director of Publicity, Mike Will- man. He stands for a fee of $3,000 Live Foal in 2013. “Mike is one of the great new clients we’ve got the last Sierra Sunset couple of years,” said Tom. “He has a lot of great relation- ships and contacts, and always speaks highly of the farm.” Clay added, “I like that McCann’s Mojave ran for a lot of years,” and Tom concluded, “He’s durable, but he’s also ver- satile. He won early sprinting, then succeeded at two turns, and retired sound. He’s what you want in a stallion.” Onebadshark Retired to stud in California six years ago, this dual stakes winner’s four limited crops to date boast 81 percent winners from starters and average earnings per runner of more than $30,000.